Wolfgang Petry (74) is celebrating his 50th stage anniversary with a new album. "Ein Leben lang" will be released on September 25, 2026, just three days after his 75th birthday. The schlager singer spent over a year in the studio, according to a statement from Sony Music. Eleven new songs and two bonus tracks can be heard on the album, including a new rock-schlager version of his debut single "Sommer in der Stadt". He is already releasing this today - almost 50 years after the original, which was released on June 21, 1976.
"This song made me who I am today", Petry explains. With the single, he entered the German charts at number 16 and also became known to television audiences through the ZDF-Hitparade. The musician describes the reinterpretation of the song as "an excursion into a completely different musical world".
No Concert in 20 Years
"Ein Leben lang" is Petry's first regular studio album since the 2023 work "Stark wie wir". The announcement was preceded by a countdown on his social media channels. Media and fans speculated about a live comeback by the Cologne native. In 2006, Wolfgang Petry withdrew from the stage after receiving the Goldene Stimmgabel award. At the time, he cited his wish to escape the intense media frenzy and protect his private life as the reason. While he had always loved music, he said it was "cruel to be a star".
Wolfgang Petry developed into one of Germany's most famous schlager artists since the 1970s. Over the course of his career, he won numerous music awards and was rewarded with double platinum for his album "Nie genug!". He released 28 albums, which sold more than 20 million copies in total. His best-known hits include "Verlieben, verloren, vergessen, verzeih'n", "Wahnsinn" and "Der Himmel brennt".
